Tens of Thousands of Iraqis threatened by Trump's Immigration Ban

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The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights had stated that there are around 13,499 Iraqi immigrants who are endangered by Trump's decision, despite holding valid visas and Green Cards. They now face limitations to their freedom of movement and travel, out of fear that they may be prevented from entering the US again, which stands in strict violation of human right principle which entail the freedom of movement.

29 January 2017

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR) stated that more than tens of thousands of Iraqis who hold US visas may be affected by US President Donald Trump's immigration ban on seven Muslim majority countries, Iraq being one of them.

About 1,807 of them had worked with the American Forces during the invasion of Iraq until 2011. Some of the very first people to have been affected by the decision were two Iraqi travelers who were detained upon arrival at JFK airport in New York, US. After mounting public pressure and negotiations with Democratic Party Members in the US Congress, one of them was set free.

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights had stated that there are around 13,499 Iraqi immigrants who are endangered by Trump's decision, despite holding valid visas and Green Cards. They now face limitations to their freedom of movement and travel, out of fear that they may be prevented from entering the US again, which stands in strict violation of human right principle which entail the freedom of movement.

The IOHR also recorded cases of 1,807 persons who had worked with the American Forces, mainly as translators during the Iraq War between 2003 and 2011. Their lives, in particular, would be in grave danger if they returned to Iraq. Some of their family members had already been killed or injured in targeted attacks against them as a result of their affiliation to the American Forces.

The recent wave of anti-immigration decisions taken by US President Donald Trump only confirm the predictions that described him as a threat to the state of human rights.

Guardian columnist, Natalie Nougayrède, effectively named the greatest threat to human rights “Trumpism” in an op-ed published last week, stating that “Donald Trump’s installation in the White House is not just a threat to global alliances, international trade or even fact-based discussion – it risks unleashing a tsunami that could sweep away the human rights movement as it has so far existed.”

In light of the serious issues surrounding the safety and protection of Iraqi citizens and citizens and refugees of other countries seeking asylum in the US, or simple exercising their right to entry through valid visas, and after fulfilling all legal entry requirements, the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights calls on international organizations, in particular the United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, to exert the necessary pressure on the newly-elected US-president to revoke the immigration ban, which has threatened the state of human rights across the world.